Venezuelan supreme court will not extradite fugitive banker

Caracas.-Collapsed Banco Peravia senior executive José Luis Santoro will not appearbefore the Dominican courts to respond to accusations of extorting more thanUS$29 million dollars from savers after the Venezuelan Supreme Court turned down an extradition request from the Dominican authorities.

Thisdoes not mean, however, that he will not have to respond to questions inconnection with the case, as the court promised to process him, according tothe digital version of Venezuela’s El Universal newspaper.

Throughsentence E16-82, the penal chamber of the Supreme Court rejected theextradition request on the grounds that article 69 of the Venezuelanconstitution bans sending Venezuelans to foreign courts.

Nonetheless,the court pledged to start proceedings in connection with the investigationsinto the charges listed in the extradition request.

Santoroalso faces separate charges in his native Venezuela.

Santorowas the president of Banco Peravia, which was taken over by the Dominicanauthorities in early 2015 after serious irregularities were exposed in itsfinances.